Pretend
by xX.Chu-Chan.Xx
Summary: “You’re not the one who’s suppose to apologize.” Heiji gave Conan his fish cake “she misunderstood you, and she doesn’t know that she’s not the only one who’s suffering.” Conan looks at the bag and clenches his fists.


_You don't need to pretend…_

"Huh?" Conan looks up and could only see darkness "Who's there?!"

_I think I've waited for Shinichi long enough…_

'T-that was Ran's voice!' Conan suddenly stop as he let the words sink through his mind 'S-she-said… she…w-what?"

_Stop pretending…_

"What's that suppose to mean? P-pretend?" Conan looks around when a bright light blinded him.

Conan looks around and found himself on a bed 'W-where's this?' he thought then 'O-oi this is the clinic… now that I try to remember… I got a fever, and I…' Conan was in thinking mode when he slowly turned pink '…stupid fevers.' Conan looks around 'Well I'm glad no one's here… at least I could sneak out…'

Conan was about to go down his bed when he heard the door open and close and then the nurse comes in and looks at Conan with a smile "Edogawa-san you can't get off the bed yet… wow you gave your teacher quite a scare there… how did you get a high fever anyway?"

"N-nandemonai…" Conan looks at his side with a frown as he remembered everything now.

_Flashback…_

_Night time and Ran was crying… again. Conan slowly walks towards Ran "Ran-neechan, ano…"_

_Ran sniffed "C-Conan-kun… you want some milk? It's in the fridge." Ran force a smile_

"_It's alright Ran-neechan you don't need to pretend." Conan smiled sadly but Ran was too blind (her eyes were full of tears) to see it._

"_C-Conan-kun!" Ran hugged him and starts crying. It really hurts him to see her like this._

_After half an hour…_

"_Arigatou Conan-kun." Ran said with a frown as she accepted the glass of water from Conan "Shinichi is such an idiot."_

"_Hai, Shinichi-niichan is an idiot." Conan looks down. The moon from the window of the agency was making everything a bit bright._

"_He's totally in good hands! He's popular! He got everything! I don't understand what I need to wait for a jerk like him! After all I'm just like other people… why does he want me to wait for him?" Ran said hysterically._

_Conan looks up with another set of sad eyes but had a different expression, he had a hopeful smile, his mask was totally broken "Shinichi-niichan trusts you Ran-neechan…he knows you're different from…"_

"_I think I've waited for Shinichi long enough…" Ran said as her eyes shadowed while smiling._

_Conan looks up in disbelief "G-gomen R-Ran-neechan…d-demo… I-I thought you just said y-you…"_

"_I did Conan-kun…" Ran said looking at him while smiling_

"_Ran-neechan please… wait for him!" Conan said while frowning he's starting to feel weird, he was feeling nervous, Ran might say…_

"_How'd you know how it feels waiting for someone almost like forever!" Ran said as she clenches her fist_

'_You have no idea… how it feels to always be uncomfortable knowing someone's waiting for you! You need to rush things just for that person!' Conan wanted to say that but "Iie Ran-neechan, I don't know how it feels but, I know how it feels if I-Shinichi-niichan found out you're not waiting for him! All his efforts will get wasted!"_

"_What efforts? He sounded fine to me on the phone, he always sounds relax at the phone!" Ran covers her face with her hands "I just don't want to suffer anymore… you don't need to get involve with this Conan-kun."_

"_Ran! BAKA!"_

_Ran got shock as she heard what Conan said "C-Conan-kun…" Ran suddenly put her hands down while she frowned "Soka, you're at Shinichi's side after all…of course you'll fight for him. You're still a kid, so you probably want to join with his prank of making me wait since it seems 'fun' to you." Ran starts walking away not even noticing the tears that were slowly trickling down the boy's cheek "If that's the case 'Conan-kun', I think you'll have 'fun' if we play a game on ignoring each other." Ran opens her bed room door and slams it before Conan could call to her._

_And so the next morning Conan found himself late for school. And to make matters worst Ran didn't make him breakfast or his lunch._

'_Guess she was serious…' Conan thought as he walks at the side road alone for the first time._

_His phone suddenly rang "Moshi moshi?" Conan said as he looks at the street lights_

"_Kudo! It's me!"_

"_Hattori?"_

"_Ah! I heard from Kazuha you and neechan fought."_

_Conan was about to cross when the light turned green (for the walk sign as in signaling it was ok to walk) but was stopped._

"_A-ah, she didn't want to wait anymore…"_

"_Wait? Oh~ that… Kudo… s-sorry for bringing up that topic…"_

"_Never mind that, well, it was to happen sooner or later. Anyway I'll be late, actually I'm already late, but you know what I mean." Conan hangs up._

_-School-_

_Conan opens the door to his classroom which caught everyone's attention of course, and as always he ignored them and apologizes to the teacher because he was late and proceeded to his seat where Haibara was seating next to._

"_What happened? What made you late this time? You ran into a case or something?" Haibara looks at Conan while smirking_

"_I don't wanna talk about it." Conan took out one of his notebook and starts reading his notes silently when he suddenly saw a small note at the side. "What the~"_

_Remember Ran's birthday!_

_Conan smirked as he closes his notebook 'I'm not even sure if she'll bother accepting my gift…' Conan suddenly felt a vibration in his pocket. He sneakily looks at his cellphone 'A text message? From Hattori?'_

_Oi Kudo! I'm coming to visit Tokyo!_

_If you don't mind, please pick me up after your classes!_

_-END-_

_Conan sweat drop._

_-Lunch time-_

"_Conan-kun, aren't you going to eat?" Ayumi asked as he notices Conan not taking out his lunch box._

"_I forgot… to get my lunch box." Conan lied_

"_That's too bad. Do you want to share mine?" Ayumi smiled at him_

"_Thanks Ayumi-chan but I'm not really hungry anyway." Conan looks outside the window._

_The detective boys look at each other and shrugged while Haibara just narrowed his eyes at him._

_-After classes-_

_Conan was about to leave when the detective boys approached him._

"_Conan, you're leaving already?" Genta_

"_Well, I have something to do…"_

"_Aren't you coming home with us?" Mitsuhiko_

"_I'm busy… gomen."_

"_Conan-kun?" Ayumi_

"_I have something to do."_

"_Ran will go home with us…" Ai_

"…"

"_That's right! Ran-neechan will come home with us!" Mitsuhiko_

"…"

"_Y-yeah!" Genta "We'll be eating cakes together!"_

"…"

"_Conan-kun come on it will be fun!" Ayumi_

"_Oi… Edogawa-kun."_

"_In that case I'm not coming, anyway I gotta go, I need to meet up with someone."_

_And then he left, leaving them confuse. They thought bringing Ran to the topic would help, but…_

_--_

_Meanwhile while Conan was walking towards the train station, he saw…_

"_R-Ran…"_

_Without thought he immediately hides at the alley, Ran notices something but shrugs it off and continued looking at the store. Conan looks at Ran and saw her staring outside the shop with Sonoko both of them were chatting._

"_That small teddy bear is cute!" Ran said while pointing at a teddy that size was of a palm_

"_But for a small teddy, it sure has a large prize, come on Ran, let's look at another store instead." Sonoko said as she drags her to another way._

_When they were out of sight, Conan goes to the outside of the shop and looks at the teddy "Maybe I should buy it for her to apologize." Conan takes out his wallet and inside his wallet were a lot of money and a credit card! (Of course you know Shinichi is rich)_

_Conan enters the shop._

_-Train station-_

"_That idiot where is he." Heiji paces around when he suddenly heard Conan._

"_Oi! Hattori!" Conan runs towards him while waving_

"_Oi Kudo! Where have you been?" Hattori crosses his arms_

"_Ssshh! I told you it's not safe to say my name in public!" Conan glares at him_

"_G-gomen, anyway what took you so long?"_

"_I did some errands…" Conan tries to hide the small paper bag_

"_What's that?" Heiji smirks_

"_None of your business, so what are you doing here? And where's Kazuha-san?" Conan looks around_

"_Ohh, well, there's gonna be a storm in Osaka so there's no classes there for about 2 weeks, and I didn't invite Kazuha to come over, but she told me about her coming here next week because of an occasion." Heiji looks at Conan_

"_Occasion?" Conan shrugs it off and looks at the cloudy sky "Well, there's gonna be a storm here too, so I don't think you're here because it won't be stormy here, so what's your real explanation?"_

"_Kudo… well, I umm… wanted some adventure! I always noticed when you're around there are always cases that happen around you…" Heiji notices Conan glaring at him "I see, so you're saying I'm a death magnet or something…" Heiji immediately shook his head "N-no!! That's not it!" Conan starts laughing "Calm down, I was just messing with you." Heiji gives him an annoyed face._

_--_

_Heiji and Conan were walking at the park and they saw a store that was selling fish cakes. The both bought some fish cakes._

"_Wow, she did that? That's kinda tough not eating breakfast and lunch." Heiji said as he took a bite on his fish cake_

"_And if I'm not mistaking this will be my dinner." Conan took a bite on his food_

"_What!? Really?? Sheesh, is she that serious over you?" Heiji frowned_

"_Saa neh…" Conan looks at the other kids that were playing with each other. "I wanted to apologize…" Conan whispers, luckily Heiji didn't hear, or so he thought._

"_You're not the one who's suppose to apologize." Heiji gave Conan his fish cake "she misunderstood you, and she doesn't know that she's not the only one who's suffering."_

_Conan looks at the bag and clenches his fists._

_--_

_And so after how many hours Heiji went to stay on a hotel for a while, while Conan went back to the agency._

_It was night time of course, Conan slowly walks inside when suddenly…_

"_What's that bag, Conan-kun, is it another material for you and Shinichi's prank?" Ran crosses her arms._

_Conan just looks down "I-…"_

"_Just go to your room." Ran said as she wipes her eyes, Conan frowned and was about to get the toy when Heiji's words echo through his mind 'You're not the one who's suppose to apologize.' Conan bit his lip and left._

_o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o_

And so for about a week, Conan and Ran still ignored each other and surprisingly the others didn't know, even Kogorou. Because Conan couldn't eat properly, and only gets food if Ran is in a good mood and puts it on the table while Conan isn't around, he got a high fever one day. And so at school he totally didn't feel well… and of course sooner or later he would've collapse.

And this is when the story continues!

Conan gets his bag and took out the small teddy and sigh, suddenly he heard the door open and close, which meant someone entered. Conan immediately put the toy inside his bag. He could hear the detective boys talk to the nurse. 'So it's them.'

"Conan-kun!! I'm so glad you're ok!" Ayumi hugs Conan which sent some glares from Mitsuhiko and Genta.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine…" Conan smiles at her

"So Edogawa-kun, you brought your lunch today right?" Haibara looks at him

"Ah~ n-no…" Conan laughed nervously

"Conan-kun something's happening, we noticed you hardly have your lunch and whenever you have it, your lunch is a bit burnt. What's happening?" Mitsuhiko asked worriedly

"And we also noticed you don't walk with Ran-neechan anymore." Genta points out

"And now that you mention it Genta-kun, we never did see you with Ran-neechan anymore." Ayumi said in a thinking mode "And now you got sick…"

"What's this Kudo-kun… something's happening? " Ai said softly

"Could it be Ran-neechan is sick?!" Mitsuhiko points at Conan

(Conan's usual expression when they got it wrong; you know, he's eyes are dots and he has a weird smile)

"O-of course not!" Conan said but they didn't listen

"Yeah, it's perfect, Ran-neechan can't make you lunch since she's sick and when he gives you lunch it's a bit burnt because she can't concentrate because of her fever, and also, Conan-kun can't go with her since he doesn't want to catch her sickness. And Conan got sick because of her!" Mitsuhiko smirk at his deduction

"Woah! Sugoy Mitsuhiko-kun!" Ayumi clapped

"Demo, if Ran-san is sick she shouldn't go to school, besides we see her go to school don't we?" Ai points out

"I-it's because she's too stubborn to stay home!" Mitsuhiko said

"But as you said in your deduction, Edogawa-kun can't be allowed to go with Ran because he might catch her sickness, so what about the students at her school then?" Ai looks at him with her usual stare.

"O-oh, I guess it must be something else." Mitsuhiko sighed

"So Conan, what is it exactly? Why aren't you going with Ran-neechan?" Genta asks

"It's really nothing." Conan sighed with his usual bored look.

"A-anou, Conan-kun, I made you lunch since I got a feeling you won't have any today." Ayumi gives him a lunch box that was wrapped with blue handkerchief.

"Arigatou Ayumi-chan." Conan smiled at her.

"Let's go everyone, we don't want him to feel awkward while eating."

"Hai!" They all said

And so they left, but before Ai left she spoke to Conan "Kudo-kun your mask is breaking… and you should also stop pretending." Then Ai left and closes the door.

"Mask? Pretending?" Conan was confused.

--

After classes Conan was allowed to go out the clinic. As he met the detective boys he gave the lunch box back to Ayumi and told her the lunch was tasty and immediately left while saying good bye.

On his way home he suddenly heard someone calling for him.

"Oi! Ku-Conan!" Hattori runs towards him

"Ah~ Hattori, what do you want?" Conan raised an eyebrow

"Can you come with me? I'll be picking up Kazuha." Heiji said while panting

"Oh yeah, now that I remember, she was coming after a week… and it has been seven days, so did you found out about this 'occasion'?" Conan ask

"Well, not yet, I was planning to ask her when she comes." Heiji said as he starts walking towards the direction of the station while Conan followed.

-Train station-

It started raining when the both arrived.

"Phew, that was close, luckily we made it here before it rained." Heiji smirked at Conan "I didn't bring any umbrella though."

"Never mind that." Conan looks at the wet street.

"Heiji!" Kazuha comes out of the train that just stopped.

"Kazuha." Heiji looks at Kazuha ran towards him and smile "At least it's just raining here, back at Osaka it was very windy and also the rain was heavy." Kazuha then saw Conan "Conan-kun, I'm sorry about your fight with Ran-chan…"

Conan looks up with an innocent face "It's ok Kazuha-neechan." Conan suddenly felt Kazuha's hand on his forehead "Conan-kun, you have a fever!"

"Nani? Ku-Conan you didn't tell me." Heiji glares at him while Conan sweat dropped

--

And so as the three of them were walking...

"So where are we going?" Kazuha asks while smiling at Conan.

"I'm going to buy myself some dinner." Conan smiled back "So I gotta go!"

"Chotto matte Conan-kun, why are you going to buy yourself dinner?" Kazuha grabs Conan before he could leave.

"Well you see…" Heiji explains everything.

After the explanation.

"Nani? Ran-chan… really did that?" Kazuha said in disbelief

"Well more or less." Heiji frowns

'No wonder why Conan-kun got a fever.' Kazuha shook her head "Conan-kun, if you want to, why don't you join with me and Heiji eat dinner?"

"Ah~ iie, I can…" Conan gets interrupted by Heiji "Iie, it's no trouble at all, now come on." Heiji carries Conan "O-oi Hattori!" Conan said softly making sure Kazuha won't hear "Oh come on Kudo, you haven't had a descent meal I know that much that's for sure." Heiji whispered at him wile winking. This made Conan smile in the inside.

-Restaurant-

Heiji, Kazuha and Conan ordered what they want and are now waiting for their food. Heiji then suddenly remembers something.

"Kazuha, you did come here for an occasion right? What was that occasion?" Heiji asked. Then the waiter suddenly came with the food they order.

"Arigatou." Kazuha said as the waiter finished serving the food. And after that she turns back at Heiji "What do you mean Heiji? Don't you know tomorrow's Ran-chan's birthday?"

Before Heiji could say anything they suddenly heard a scream. They all look at the direction where they heard the scream and saw a man lying on the floor, holding his neck while shaking violently at one of the tables.

One of the waiters was about to go to him when…

"NOBODY TOUCHES HIM!" They all look at Heiji, who immediately looked at the person and was searching for something then he spoke "He's poisoned, quick! Call an ambulance!"

3 minutes later, the ambulance came and took the person away while the police arrived.

"The victim's name was Mr. Hiroshima Saisaki, 52 years old, has a wife and 2 kids, and works as the President of a company." Megure looks at the people who were with the victim, it were 2 men and 1 woman. The names of the 2 men were Mr. Shiro Furo (29 yrs. Old) and Mr. Shinji Sukai (31 yrs. Old) and the woman was Ms. Yuki Asukai (28 yrs. Old)

"As I heard from other people's opinion, the victim was poisoned… but what kind of poison?" Megure was thinking until

"Botulism, poisoning caused mainly by eating food containing Clostridium botulinum, a poisonous bacterium. Symptoms usually appear 18 to 36 hours after ingestion. The toxin, which is not destroyed by the enzymes of the gastrointestinal tract, affects the central nervous system and interrupts nerve impulses, but the mind continues to function normally. Disability progresses from difficulty in walking and swallowing, along with impaired vision and speech, to occasional convulsions, and ultimately to paralysis of the respiratory muscles, suffocation, and death, all within a few hours or days, depending on the amount of toxin ingested. Two thirds of those attacked may die." Conan said but was stopped when people were staring at him "A-at least that's what the TV said" Conan sweat dropped. He didn't notice that one of the people in the crowd or probably one of the suspects glared at him.

"C-Conan-kun! Then that means Mouri's here." Megure said as he looks around

"Ah~ iie, I'm here with Heiji-niichan and Kazuha-neechan!" Conan pointed at Kazuha and Heiji.

"Ahh, Heiji-kun, nice to see you again." Megure said

"Same here inspector." Heiji grins

"Anyway, on what Conan-kun said about Botulism might be right. But we might not be sure about the food part, as what Conan-kun said the symptoms would usually appear after 18 to 36 hours." Megure looks at the crime scene. The chair of the victim fell and some of the food got spilled probably panicked because he was suffocating. "And so it could've happen about 4 am for 18 hrs and as for 36 hrs it could've happen at 10 am on 3 or 2 days ago." Megure said as he looks at his watch "But that depends on how much poison the murderer gave the victim."

One of the police runs towards the inspector "Inspector, we didn't find any poison in the food."

"Well that's no surprise since the poison should've been given 18 to 36 hours ago. And he could've gotten poison in other ways." Megure held his chin while thinking.

"There are three main kinds of botulism. Food-borne botulism is caused by eating foods that contain the botulism toxin; wound botulism, by toxin produced from a wound infected with Clostridium botulinum; infant botulism, by consuming the spores of the botulinum bacteria, which then grow in the intestines and release toxin. But the 3rd one might be impossible, since he's probably a healthy man." Heiji also thinks

"Anyway I need to know what the suspects did at 4 am and 10 am on 2 or 3 days ago." Megure leads them to another table and starts asking questions.

Meanwhile Conan and Heiji starts talking to each other while Kazuha uses the bathroom and after that she told them she would go to the hotel where Heiji was, she then invited Conan if he could go home with her, of course Heiji said he'll do that instead and Kazuha left.

"So Kudo, what do you think?"

"Well, I'm not sure yet, we won't be able to find anything on the crime scene since the killer just waited for the poison to take affect, all we could do is wait for their testimonies…ch-chotto~ look at that!" Conan points at the food on the table. Heiji looks at the food they were fruits and raw vegetables, and there were foods that had grains on them "What about them Kudo?"

"Those kinds of foods are Fiber…" Conan smirked

"Fiber, and so~ ah… soka! Fiber helps you digest faster!" Heiji looks closely at the food

"I think the victim always eats foods that are Fiber, judging by his old age, old people have slow digestions so they need to eat Fiber." Conan kept thinking

"And since this poison only takes affect after you digest it then the poison's symptoms starts after 18 to 36 hrs, then it must be…" Heiji narrows his eyes

"Ah~ It was later than 4 am or 10 am." Conan smirked "Demo, I got a feeling it was 18 hrs."

"What makes you say that Kudo?" Heiji asks

"Aho. What kind of killer wants to wait for 2 or 3 days and since the symptoms are slowly affecting him in those days he would get worried and immediately go and have a check-up." Conan looks at him

The Inspector then went to Heiji "Inspector just tell us what they did on 4 am, I don't think the killer would give the poison 36 hrs ago." Heiji said "What makes you say that?" Megure asked confuse, Heiji then whispers to him what Conan told him "That's a good a point." Megure said

And so he starts telling him the victims testimonies "Ok, Mr. Shiro ~ 4 am – he was surfing the internet to look for a job it took him few hours until he found Mr. Hiroshima's advertisement, he quickly called his number, and then he was told to see him here in this restaurant to have an interview.

Mr. Shinji ~ 4am – he was asleep and woke up in 9 am for staying up late studying for the new job Mr. Hiroshima was about to give him after the interview.

Last but not the least Ms. Yuki ~ 4 am – she was taking a bath for about how many hours since she likes relaxing in the hot water of her tub, and she usually falls asleep while taking a bath."

"Neh, Yuki-san, what did you do after taking a bath?" Heiji stares at her

"I went jogging at the park." Yuki replied

"Neh Heiji-niichan, don't old people go jogging as well every morning?" Conan said innocently at Heiji "Well, I guess so." Heiji then kept thinking "So Yuki-san, how'd you found out about Hiroshima-san's job?"

"I met him while I was jogging this morning, like what the kid said, Hiroshima-san goes jogging as well. And when I met him there, he told me about the job and I wanted to try it out and so he told me we need to meet here at this restaurant this night as well. And then after that he went to the post office." She said

Conan narrows his eyes at Yuki. Then he looks at Heiji while smiling while Heiji smiled back at him "Oi, Conan, when I ask you to come with me to pick up Kazuha, you were a bit late…"

"Ohh, about that, I got school today." Conan scratches the back of his head

"Ehh? Why do you have a school at a 'Sunday'?!"

Megure suddenly stop "Chotto, today is a Sunday?"

"Hai! We had class activities today! That's why we had classes today! But I don't think post office has any class activities… I wonder if it's even possible for post office to be open at a 'Sunday.'" Conan smirks at the lady who was glaring at him.

"That is kinda weird for Hiroshima-san to go to the post office on a Sunday." Megure looks at her "Care to explain why you're telling us a lie?"

"What? A-are you accusing me to be the killer?" Yuki looks at them in disbelief

"You're avoiding the question." Heiji stares at her

"Arre~ Oneechan! There's a wrapper in your purse it says here 'fish cake'. Hey isn't this from the stand that was selling fish cake at the park?" Conan smiled

"I got it how many weeks ago!" she defends herself

"Megure-keibu, I see some weird substance in the wrapper, could it be the poison?" Conan said as he looks at it.

"Fine, if I killed him then tell me, why do I have poison in my fish cake? And I went jogging after 4 am! Now tell me!" she glares at them.

"Well of course you were telling the truth that you went jogging and met up with Hiroshima-san, but you meeting him wasn't coincidence, it could be you are related to him somehow, I mean who would go talk to strangers in the middle of their jog? Anyway let's continue, after both of you jog you went to the store and bought 2 fish cakes. And you were the one who bought so you got both fish cakes in your hands, you immediately put the poison at one of the fish cake and gave it to him. He was about to eat it until Shiro-san called at his cell phone to ask for the job, and so Hiroshima-san gave the fish cake to you before he could eat, you could've throw it and pretend you accidentally drop it but if only he took a bite and so you just kept holding it. But sooner or later you forgot which fishcake was his and so you have no other choice but to put poison at the both again, and then when you gave him his food you pretend to drop your food accidentally, and since you're still holding you're wrapper, you put it in your purse." Heiji points at her purse.

"Very good deduction tantei-san but what about the timing of the poison, as I said before…" she was suddenly interrupted

"Neh oneechan, did you ever know that old people eat Fiber these days?" Conan smiled at her innocently

She gritted her teeth as she looks at Conan.

"And since Fiber helps you digest stuff much faster for old people, the poison got digested in no problem!" Conan looks at her with a smile.

She then starts laughing "He's actually an acquaintance of my father and I wanted to kill him because… he killed my father!"

"What?!" Megure was shock

"He was jealous that dad was getting popular and so he started spreading rumors about him… making his name dirty, because of this rumors outo-san couldn't take it anymore and so he… he… killed himself! I found out that the rumors came from Hiroshima-san because I heard him talk about it with his other friends while drinking!" she started crying "I told the police but they won't believe me 'cause I have no evidence!"

And so the police took her and put handcuffs on her hands. While she passed by Conan it seemed like the time stopped "Killing won't solve anything you know…" Conan spoke softly Yuki smirk "How'd you know you're just a kid." Conan looks at her with his mature eyes "You don't know what's behind this mask." She looks at him with a bit of shock face and smiled at him "I guess I'll never know…" then just like that, time move again and she continued towards the police car.

"Oi Kudo, let's go home." Heiji said as he held on his shoulder Conan looks at him and smile "Ah."

--

And so while walking…

"I guess you weren't able to eat, I bet your fever is getting worst." Heiji sighed

"It's fine." Conan looks at the street in a bored way "I don't want to go home. I wish the case lasted longer." Conan murmured

"Kudo, if you want to you can stay at my room at the hotel." Heiji grins at him

Conan smiled at Heiji "No thanks. I just don't want to see Ran cry or even hear her cry. I don't care if she acts cold to me I just don't want to see her cry again."

The sky grumbles as Heiji looks at Conan but instead of seeing a 7 year old kid he could see Kudo Shinichi. Then slowly rain starts pouring and Heiji's illusion faded "Ah! Kuso, we need to hurry!" And so the both run towards the agency.

Heiji waves good bye to Conan while running off to another direction. Conan stares at the Agency while getting wet by the rain. Then he could hear her, he could hear her cry. Conan gets his bag and took out the toy "I~" Conan felt a warm tear trickle down his cheek 'That's kinda odd, I never knew rain could be warm." Conan smiled at how warm the tear was… but his smile slowly fades. He suddenly saw something at the toy it had a note. And it was getting wet.

_Your love ones would always know if you have any problems_

_And they'll also know if you're pretending that everything is alright when actually_

_You're broken…_

_They'll know because they love you._

_And always remember, they'll always love you_

Slowly Conan starts chuckling when more warm tears trickled down his cheek 'It hurts… it hurts just laughing…' Conan kneeled down as he laughed silently, when suddenly he frowned and whimpers were replaced by the laughter '…doushite? Why does laughing hurt? They usually say laughter's the best medicine!' Conan could feel pain traveling through his body he wraps his arms around himself as he tried to stop it. Conan screamed as the sky grumbled, completely covering his scream as well as the pitter-patter of the rain.

-Hotel-

"Kudo!" Heiji looks back as he was about to enter the hotel 'What was that feeling?' Before Heiji could turn back to the hotel he looks at the dark cloudy sky.

--

Conan slowly walks towards the direction of his 'real house' while hugging the toy and the note with his arms protecting it as if it's his own life. He was totally soaked. He suddenly got trip by a rock, before he could land at his front (where the toy and note was) he immediately twisted his body thus making him land on his back. It really hurt because his back landed hard at the rocky road. Slowly he got up and continued on his way.

--

When he finally arrived at the front of the gate of his house he slowly opens the gate and went in his place. He took off his clothes and change into a white polo shirt that was surprisingly his size and shorts. Conan lies down on his couch, he didn't feel like sleeping on his bed it was too far. Conan covers himself with a sheet… he could still feel pain all over his entire body, but the most was at his back.

He can't sleep, he turns at his other side and there he could see the toy sitting on one of his desk. The large window below Conan (while lying down on his couch) let's out a blinded light from the lightning. And because of that he made a mistake. When he flinches because of the lightning, the pain all over his body starts reacting again, and thus making him flinch again.

He couldn't stop the whimpers he clenches the sheets as he tries to resist the pain and also he could feel coldness of being alone. He needed warmth "c-cold…" he murmurs between the whimpers.

He suddenly felt a warm hand touching his forehead he looks up and saw "H-Hattori…"

He could see Heiji smiling at him "Mind telling me why you're not at the agency?" Conan smiled as he closes his eyes "Nandemonai." And just like that Conan was drag through the darkness. "O-oi Kudo!" Heiji could feel heat from Conan's forehead "K-kuso, his fever got higher."

Heiji immediately searches around the house as he tries to find a bowl where he could put water and a cloth.

When he found the items he immediately put it at the floor next to the couch and wets the cloth and then and puts it on Conan's forehead which seemed to help him a lot since it seemed like he relax a bit. Heiji starts looking for a thermometer and found one. While waiting for it to beep, Heiji looks around Shinichi's house, he suddenly spots the teddy on his desk "What's that? Isn't Kudo too old for that stuff? Then again~" He suddenly saw a familiar paper bag "Hey, that's the~" A flashback where Conan hides the paper bag appears on his mind "Was he planning to give that to neechan?" Heiji shrugs it off when suddenly he heard the beeping noise, he went to the thermometer and looks at his temperature "39.4?? That's a bit high!" Heiji suddenly notices something at Conan's back, slowly he took off Conan's shirt and when he look at his back he saw a lot of scratches!

Immediately, Heiji looks for a first aid kid while thinking 'What happened to him that he got those scratches?'

When he found it he immediately wraps the band aid around his body and over his shoulder and when he finished he puts back the shirt on Conan. Heiji sighed at the state of his best friend, Heiji takes the cloth and wets it again. And slowly he fell asleep.

-Next morning-

Conan wakes up and slowly sits up as he still feels sore. He looks around when he spotted Heiji leaning at a chair while sleeping 'What's he doing here?' Then he suddenly remembers last night and smiled. He goes down the couch and drags his sheet and covers it at Heiji who murmured "Kudo you idiot." This made Conan pout but forgets it and left.

Conan went to look for some breakfast. And so he goes to some stores and bought 2 breads and a 2 bottles of milk.

Meanwhile back at Shinichi's house…

Heiji wakes up and yawns. He notices the sheet that was on him 'Kudo?' He looks at the couch and saw him not there "What the-! Where's that brat!?" He starts searching around the house when he suddenly heard the door. He runs towards the door and saw Conan taking off his shoes while carrying the stuff. This made Heiji smirk.

"Oi, you weren't feeling well yet, what are you doing out of bed…" Heiji races an eyebrow like a mother

"Oi oi, Hattori, stop acting like my mom, and plus I was on the couch." Conan walks towards the kitchen.

"Tch, I was just kidding around." Heiji follows him.

They then started eating "Oi Kudo, you know it's neechan's birthday today. And today's Monday, which means you have classes." Heiji bites his bread

"I don't want to go to school today, besides, I don't want to get wet again." Conan points out the window which shows a cloudy sky "and plus I'm already late, and my things are wet."

"What about neechan's birthday?" Heiji drinks the bottle of milk

"I don't know… I doubt she wants to see me in her special day." Conan smiled at the thought that he goes to Ran at her birthday and she starts yelling at him and tries to kick him, although while he was imagining it, his eyes were totally showing another emotion.

Heiji's cell phone suddenly rings "Moshi moshi?"

"_Oi Heiji! Where are you?"_

"Ah Kazuha, I'm just having a walk." Heiji lies

"_Whatever anyway, I met with Ran-chan today and she's inviting us to her house later, she'll be making a lot of food almost like a party, except that it had no balloons and stuff, you get the point. Everyone will be there, Officer Satou, Inspector Takagi, Megure-keibu, the detective boys, Kogorou-san of course oh and his wife is kind of busy with a client so she can't go, and Sonoko-chan." _When Kazuha reach the last name her voice saddened

"What about Conan?"

"_Sh-she, didn't mention his name, m-maybe she just forgot, just bring Conan-kun, just incase."_

"I'm not coming." Conan said

"Eh?" Both Heiji and Kazuha heard him

"I'm not invited for sure." Conan leaves the table

"_Heiji, Conan was with you all along? And he heard our conversation?"_

"Eheh, I didn't know he could hear our conversation"

"_Well anyway, I gotta go. Ja."_

Heiji hangs up and sighed "Oi Kudo, she probably did forget your name." Heiji goes to where Conan went and saw him holding the small teddy "Kudo…"

"Hattori, if I go there not even invited, I'll just get embarrassed. She'll just yell at me while the others watch." Conan puts the toy beside him.

Heiji clenches his fist "You're going to the party whether you like it or not. If she starts yelling at you I'll defend you."

"Can you defend me from her karate?" Conan starts walking towards the bathroom

"Well I-" Heiji shook his head "Oh come on Kudo…"

"NO!" Conan bangs the door of his bathroom.

--

Conan takes off his shirt and notices the band aids that were wrap around his body.

--

"He's so stubborn." Heiji crosses his arms

Heiji goes to the library "Woah, Kudo reads a lot." Heiji takes out a book from the shelf "I bet some of these books are about Sherlock." Heiji suddenly hears someone knock on the door.

He immediately runs towards the door and open the door and there stood the detective boys, Haibara and Hakase.

"Why would Conan-kun be here in the haunted house~?" Ayumi stopped when the door opened "It's the detective from the west!" Ayumi points at Heiji

"Oi, oi, it's rude to point at people, and sorry to burst your bubble but this house is not haunted, it's actually the home of the great detective from the east. And he's Conan's distant relative." Heiji grins "Come on in."

--

"What are you doing here? Don't you have classes?" Heiji asks

"We were dismissed early since the weather won't be nice." Haibara looks at him boredly "And we came here to visit Edogawa-kun. I had a feeling he could be here."

"What are you doing here Heiji-kun?" Agasa asks

"It's kind of a long story" Heiji scratches the back of his head

Ayumi sits on the couch and when she noticed the doll "Aaaah!!! This doll!!!"

"What about that doll?" Heiji looks at it as he remembered that Conan keeps holding it like it was important to him.

"This is very popular! And this is very expensive!!" Ayumi looks at it in awe

Heiji takes it from Ayumi "Gomen, but you can't touch it."

"Woah, that's a lot of books!" Genta said as he looks around the library

Mitsuhiko looks at the books "Yeah, there's so many, and some of them are about Sherlock."

"Oi! Why don't you stay at the couch!" Heiji calls at them

--

Conan splashes some water while sitting on the tub. His hair sticks on his forehead, he removes it and sighed. He suddenly heard noises from outside "What's Hattori doing this time?" Conan starts changing clothes, he wore a long sleeve shirt that was plain black and another shirt on top that has shorter sleeves and long white pants. (Almost like a double shirt; the shirt inside has longer sleeves until the wrist and is plain black and the outside is a normal shirt and you know what I mean)

Conan goes out while wiping his hair with a towel "Oi, Hattori… eh~?" he then stop as he saw the others "Oi oi, what are you guys doing here…"

"We should be asking you that." Haibara glares

"Conan-kun!!!" Ayumi runs towards Conan "Where have you been?"

"Well I've been staying here." Conan continues wiping his hair

"Huh? Why?!" Genta asks

"Nandemonai." Conan puts down the towel while his hair was messy (Which makes Conan look cute!!)

"Conan-kun are you going to Ran-neechan's party later?" Mitsuhiko ask

"I'm uhh… too busy to attend her party." Conan lies

"What? I can't believe you! Too busy for Ran-neechan's birthday party?" Genta was shock

"Don't worry, I'll try my best to attend her party." Conan said while Heiji narrows his eyes at him

And so they continued talking and how many hours later they left for Ran's party. But before Ai left "Kudo, you're already readable." She said

"What?" Conan looks at her confuse

"Shinichi, I read about Taurus, it said that whenever you're about to fall, just reach out and someone will grab you." Agasa grins

"I don't think I'm falling, although I'm not sure why we're talking about this." Conan shook his head "Anyway I gotta go."

"You were lying…" Haibara looks at him seriously

"Eh?" Conan turns at her

"You're not making any effort to try and go to her party." Haibara said as she left the house while Conan just stared at her leave while Agasa catches up with her.

--

Conan was now lying upside down on his couch (You know your feet is above while you head is below at the sit).

"Oi Kudo, come on, we need to go." Heiji said as he puts on his jacket

"I told you I'm not coming." Conan yells

"I'm going to carry you there if I have to." Heiji glares at him

"Don't you dare, if you try carrying me I'll use my watch on you." Conan said not even moving an inch.

"Fine, you won for now. But Kudo, I think it's best for you to come." Heiji said

"Onegai, Hattori…" Conan puts his arm above his face "…just let me be."

Heiji sighs "Fine."

And so he left, leaving Conan staring at the toy in an upside down way.

--

Heiji looks up at the agency and went in.

Ran hears the door and saw Heiji enters "Hattori-kun!" she greets him "Happy birthday neechan~" Ran smiles and thanks him, Heiji looks around everyone was there, Takagi was talking with Satou, Kogoro and Megure were talking about the cases, Ayumi was talking with Haibara while Genta was eating a lot and Mitsuhiko kept nagging at Genta that he should only eat less food or else he'll get choked and Agasa was talking at his cell phone.

Kazuha then sees Heiji "Heiji!' Kazuha runs toward Heiji "You gotta try Ran's cooking, it's really delicious! Eh~ where's Conan-kun? Didn't you bring him along?" Ran suddenly stops "Now that you mention it I haven't seen Conan-kun." Takagi joins them "Ran-chan where is he?" Sato asks her, Ran continues her work not even looking at them "I don't know."

"Ohh, speaking of Conan-kun, he help us solve a case last night with Heiji-kun and Kazuha-chan." Megure said

"Really?" Kogoro said

"I forgot to ask but what were you guys doing there?" Megure ask

"Well we were suppose to have dinner." Kazuha said

"Neh neechan, aren't you suppose to worry about Conan right now?" Heiji said as he stares at her.

Ran was stop again.

"Now that you mention it, Ran-chan you always worry for him, but why aren't you looking for him now?" Satou ask

Haibara crosses her arms as she looks at Ran 'Kudo, what's happening with you and that girl.'

--

Conan slowly positions himself to sit down "I-itte, that position really hurts." Conan looks back at the toy 'Man that toy is really annoying, it's like it wants me to give it to her so badly.' Conan ignores it and turns on the TV.

Reporter: Bank robbers have managed to escape…

"Another robbery." Conan rests his chin on his hand. He took another glimpse on the teddy.

"_You're not the one who's suppose to apologize."_

"I know already!" Conan messes his hair "Kuso!"

"_Oi Kudo, you know it's neechan's birthday today."_

'Ran's… birthday…' Conan slowly looks at the teddy "…that's it!"

--

"Eh? You and Conan-kun fought?" Ayumi got worried, now she understand why Conan was in poor health

"What did you and Conan fought about?" Satou never thought both of them would fight

"It was really nothing." Ran said as she avoid contact

"D-demo Ran…" Sonoko could feel pity for Conan for the first time

"Ran-chan, don't you understand how big this fight is causing Conan-kun?" Kazuha could feel tears at the corner of her eyes as she remembered Conan smiling even though he was totally feeling different inside.

"It was his own fault, I don't know what Conan-kun's problem was, but h-he called me an idiot. He didn't even seem to care on what he was saying! And the stuff he said hurt me, and yet he still didn't seem to care!" Ran felt a tear escape her eyes

Heiji was about to talk when Haibara suddenly cuts in "Are you sure? Or maybe you were too blind to see because of your tears."

"I-" Ran can't say anything at all, it was true after all, she never did took one glimpse at Conan and whenever she looks at Conan she can't see him because it was dark.

"Ran-chan, Conan hasn't been eating well. That's why we went to the restaurant, so that Conan-kun could get a decent meal for once." Kazuha held Ran's shoulder

"Neechan, he's staying at Kudo's house for awhile, I was actually there because I was taking care of him." Heiji clenches his fists as he remembered seeing Conan in pain at the couch, he was totally glad that he went there before something else happened to Conan.

"I- I can't! It was his~" Ran suddenly felt a slap she looks up and was shock to see Heiji slap her (Me: 'gasp') collective gasps were heard.

"Of course I prefer punching but you're a girl, anyway never mind that! I always heard from the kid that you're a strong willed person~ but, I guess people sometimes make mistakes." Heiji starts heading towards the door "I'm sorry for what I did neechan, but someone must slap you from your fantasy world, the kid respects you, and everyone knows that, he said those things probably because he had a good reason. Anyway, I need to check on him, he's probably sulking with that stupid teddy again." Heiji then left.

'Teddy?' Ran thought

Kazuha looks at Ran and bows apologetically "Heiji wait for me!"

And for some reason the others followed as well (except for Kogoro and Sonoko) as they had a bad feeling and they need to go as well.

--

Conan walks at the street while clutching the teddy that was in his pocket. The wind suddenly blows and Conan grips his jacket. Slowly it started to rain 'Not again.' Conan puts the hood on, he then didn't notice 3 guys and so he bumps at them "Watch where you're going brat!" Conan rubs his head "Gomen- eh?" Conan suddenly saw one of the guy's bags was open and inside it has money 'O-oi, those guys are the… bank robbers, oh no…'

"What are you staring at…" the guy looks behind him and saw the bag "the brat saw it! Quick get~" before he could finish his sentence he gets hit by a soccer ball and then he gets knock out.

"Why you~!" the other guy suddenly felt a sting hit him and then he suddenly felt sleepy and he got knock out as well.

'2 out, 1 more to go.' Conan thought

"Looking for me brat." The last one suddenly appears behind him while he raises the gun over his head and was about to hit it at Conan, Conan looks behind him with wide eyes and luckily dodges it, but when the guy brings it up he hits Conan and Conan fell back.

"Aaah!" Conan screamed

--

Ran looks up as she thought she heard a scream 'Conan-kun.'

"_Ran-neechan please… wait for him!"_

"Oh, Conan-kun." She covers her face and started crying

"_He said those things probably because he had a good reason."_

"Hattori-kun was right… I need to look for Conan-kun and apologize!" she stood up

"Oi Ran here's a glass of water." Kogoro said as he enters the room

"Gomen outo-san but I need to look for Conan-kun and apologize." Ran said as she dashes outside.

"R-Ran!" Sonoko was shock when she suddenly dashed out

--

"Oi! Conan-kun!!" Ayumi knocks on the door

"M-maybe he's not there!" Kazuha said as she tries to dry herself from the rain.

"Then where could he be?" Takagi asks

Heiji then thinks and then he suddenly saw a puddle of mud with footsteps on them, he suddenly felt a bad feeling 'Kudo, where are you?' Heiji scratches his head "Minna! We need to look for him!"

"Eh? Doushite?" Megure ask

"Something wrong?" Satou raised and eyebrow

"I'm not sure, a bad feeling I guess." Heiji said uneasily

"Well let's go look for Conan!" Genta said while Mitsuhiko and Ayumi nods

Ai and Agasa looks at each other and nods.

--

"Now be a good boy and stay still." He said while pointing the gun at Conan who was down.

"Sorry, I don't listen to strangers." Conan splashes the puddle of water beside him to the guy, which hit his eyes and Conan immediately runs away.

"Stupid brat." He rubs his eyes and starts running after Conan while setting his gun, he points the gun at Conan and starts firing.

"I need to get away from here." Conan turns to a corner.

--

Heiji, Kazuha, Takagi, Satou, Megure, the detective boys, Ai and Agasa suddenly stops when they saw the 2 knock out robbers.

"What the~" Takagi saw their bags "O-oi! Those bags, inside them are…"

"Money…" Satou inspects the bags "They're the bank robbers."

They start regaining consciousness and before they knew it hand cuffs were already hanging by their hands by Satou and Takagi while Megure calls the police.

"Odd, I wonder why they were knocked out here? Not a proper place to sleep I know that much for sure, it's raining buckets." Heiji thinks

"Look here." Ai said as she knelt down picks up a soccer ball that had no air in it and was flat and soaked.

"That's~" Agasa looks at it in shock

"Kudo. But where is he?" Heiji looks around

"Hey, weren't their 3 robbers?" Ayumi asked

"Yeah, at least that's what the news said." Mitsuhiko tries to remember

"He's probably in trouble by now with the 3rd robber." Haibara stood up

"I'll go look for him…" Heiji runs off

"Hattori-kun! Chotto!" Agasa tries to stop him but Heiji already left and so they followed Heiji.

--

Ran knocks on the door of his childhood friend's house.

"He's not here. That's odd." Ran runs off and went outside.

"Where's Conan-kun?" Ran stops and looks at an alley "Isn't that a shortcut to the bridge, right about the water below the bridge probably has a strong current. Demo what about it?" Ran then walks through the alley.

--

Conan runs at the bridge when he suddenly slips because of the wet and slippery ground and twists his ankle "I-itte…" Conan grabs his ankle, the guy shoots again but he missed, but since the bridge was made of wood and was weak it made a crack and before Conan knew it, the part below him broke and then he fell but immediately with adrenaline rush he grabs the side of the bridge 'I-it won't hold for long.' Conan looks at the wood that was cracking.

"Say good bye brat." Before he could even pull the trigger the part below him cracked as well and he fell to the strong current water.

Conan sweat drop at the sight. Then the wood cracked "Oh no… it's going to break." Conan closed his eyes and then…

_CRACK!_

He was falling and no one's there to catch him, well actually, no one would go to the water below him just to catch him (Except for me!! But I'm just an author)

"_Shinichi, I read about Taurus, it said that whenever you're about to fall, just reach out and someone will grab you." Agasa grins_

It seemed like time stop for him as he was given the time to reach out. He smiled as his eyes shadowed and slowly he was about to put down his hand he knew no one would grab his hand…

_but…_

"Conan-kun!!!"

Conan looks up and saw Ran reach out for him. He was shock, he could see Ran's determined face to grab his hand, (And there was this bright light for their background; you could see it now, close in Conan, his face bit reddish and a bit shock and the other side was Ran with determined look trying to reach at Conan) just an inch and Ran could grab his hand _'I'm not leaving you Conan-kun, not again.'_ Then she finally grabbed his hand "Conan-kun, hold on tight!"

'Ran…'

And just like that… Ran with total adrenaline rush pulls him up and with or without thought she immediately hugs him "I'm so sorry Conan-kun. I was pretty selfish. I really thought I was suffering the most, but I know there are other people suffering the most. I should be lucky that someone important to me is still alive, and all I need to do is just wait, unlike other people, the people they care about are already dead and they can't see them anymore, I'd prefer waiting for Shinichi than have him dead."

Conan smiles and then he remembers something "Ran-neechan, I umm…" Conan takes the teddy out of his pocket (What? I know you're thinking after all that adventure Conan still didn't loose that doll, but still I don't want to give him anymore trouble) "H-Happy birthday." Ran suddenly looks excited "Woah! This is the doll I wanted! Arigatou Conan-kun." Ran smiles then she notices Conan's muddy face, she immediately took her handkerchief out and starts wiping his face while smiling brightly.

"Ano Ran-neechan… I don't think I can't stand any longer, I just twisted my ankle."

"What?!"

Heiji then stop as he saw Ran giving Conan a piggy back ride and both of them were laughing 'I guess he's fine now.' He smiles. The others stopped behind Heiji and panted and when they saw the scene they all smiled at each other.

Haibara smiles _'At least he's not pretending anymore, and this time… that smile isn't a fake… it's the real one.'_

--

And so the police found the robber drifting to shore and everyone went home blah, blah, blah… everyone was happy and they live happily ever after.

Anyway, I made it only one chap because I already have a lot of stories that needs to be update. So anyway read and review!


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